Current motor vehicles commonly include multiple cup holders for securely holding drink cups in convenient locations where they may be easily reached by vehicle occupants. One or two cup holders are commonly provided in the center console between the driver and front passenger seats.
Typically such cup holders incorporate at least one cup well. In order to provide the ability to hold drink cups of different sizes, that well is typically equipped with mechanical fingers incorporating living hinges or a spring that will allow the mechanical fingers to yield and expand to receive a cup yet provide a gripping force to hold that cup once it is seated in the cup holder. Typically these mechanical fingers extend into the cup well through apertures provided in the wall of the cup well.
While cup holder assemblies of such design generally function well for their intended purpose, it is not uncommon for some of the drink to be spilled into the cup well. Many drinks such as fruit juices and soft drinks include significant amounts of sugar which is tacky and sticky on drying. As a result, the function of the mechanical fingers may be compromised by a drink spill to some degree. Since the mechanical fingers are mounted to the cup holder assembly behind the cup well the mechanical fingers cannot be removed for cleaning unless the entire cup holder assembly, including the body and cup well are removed from the center console. This is a difficult and even daunting task for many motor vehicle owners. As such, these owners may be forced to take their motor vehicles to a dealer to perform service on their cup holder assemblies.
This document relates to a new and improved cup holder assembly incorporating removable, resilient cup holder inserts that may be easily snapped out of a cup well to allow cleaning and then simply inserted and snapped back in place to restore the full function of the cup well in a simple and efficient manner. Thus, cup holder assembly cleaning may be easily performed by a motor vehicle owner.